You want a pay RAISE????? Ha Ha Ha.....

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- AK Steel Holding Corp. said late Thursday it will begin laying off salaried employees as orders decline because of the poor economy. In December, AK Steel said it would cut pay for salaried employees by 5% and freeze benefits. The company said all plants and offices will be affected by the layoffs, but did not specify how many of its 1,500 salaried employees would be affected.

After rising for several years, rents in the Los Angeles area are declining because of the economic recession and depressed home prices, researchers, real estate agents and property managers say.

The lower local rents match a national trend, according to a report released Wednesday showing apartment rents fell in 54 out of 79 U.S. metropolitan areas in the fourth quarter of 2008. Softening rents add another obstacle to a housing market recovery, economists say, because tenants with low rent payments feel less urgency to buy a home.